Oakland, San Francisco residents file suit over riot injuries

Share this:

Protesters tear down a barricade at Sproul Plaza during a protest against right-wing Milo Yiannopoulos who was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — Three San Francisco residents and an Oakland man who said they were injured by protesters after a right-wing provocateur’s canceled speech last year filed suit in federal court last week against UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley.

The suit, filed last Thursday in Oakland, says UC Berkeley officials and Berkeley police failed to protect them from harm after officials called off the Feb. 1, 2017 speech by then-Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulous.

According to the suit, John Jennings and Katrina Redelsheimer joined a friend, Trever Hatch, at Caffe Strada and tried to confirm text messages announcing the speech’s cancellation.

After walking to Sproul Plaza, the group said they were set upon by masked protesters who pepper-sprayed and beat them with sticks. Jennings was knocked unconscious, while Redelsheimer received treatment for pepper-spray exposure.

Hatch, who wore a red “Make America Great Again” baseball cap, said he was near his friends when he was also beaten and pepper-sprayed.

Oakland resident Donald Fletcher said he left a bar to find out more about the speech’s cancellation when masked people attacked him along Bancroft Avenue, beating him to the ground and knocking him unconscious. He was taken to a hospital for overnight treatment. Both Hatch and Fletcher said they continue to suffer “negative psychological effects.”

All four seek unspecified damages.

UC spokesman Dan Mogulof said Tuesday that the university had not yet been served with this litigation. “That means our attorneys have not seen the suit. So, we cannot comment. Once that happens there will be a statement.”

Berkeley city spokesman Matthai Chakko said the city had no comment on pending litigation.

According to court documents, attorneys for the city and university filed motions last fall before the same court to dismiss a similar suit by Kiara Robles, who also tried to attend the speech. The court has taken those motions under consideration, but no hearing date has been set yet.

George Kelly is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. Previously he worked as an online coordinator and, before that, a copy editor and page designer for Bay Area-based newspapers and magazines. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy.

"I fully support the principles behind Senate Bill 1: to defeat efforts by the president and Congress to undermine vital federal protections that protect clean air, clean water and endangered species," Newsom said in a written statement.